2024 NL Central Preview: A division where it is truly anyone’s game

Let’s stop saying this in a roundabout way. There is a very good chance that the National League representatives participating in this season’s World Series will not come from the Central Division. While it’s true that we live in a world of baseball where anything is possible as long as you make it to the postseason, I’m sure some of you reading this would rush to spend your life’s savings on any of the five teams. I don’t think so. We aim to advance to the top in this category in October. That being said, this is an attractive division to keep an eye on as any team can win.

Yes, that includes the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh has been mediocre to downright miserable on the baseball diamond, aside from a three-year period of relative glory when the Pirates played at least one postseason game a season. That being said, the team actually went in the right direction in 2023, racking up 76 wins in a weak division, so there was at least a glimmer of hope for the future.

Now it’s 2024 and the sector is just as weak. That’s why all hope for change isn’t lost in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are the team most likely to finish in last place in the National League Central division this season, but according to Fangraphs’ playoff odds, they have a fairly generous 17 percent chance of making the postseason. The chance of making it into the season is about 9 percent. What’s more, win your division! Granted, this basically means that everything has to go well for the Pirates and everything must go well for everyone else to get back to October, but it’s not impossible.

There’s a lot to like about the current Pirates. O’Neal Crews is one of the most exciting young talents in the game right now, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds are the cornerstones that are here to stay, and Jack Swinski is another promising young player who has There’s also an up-and-coming talent in Henry Davis. If you squint, you can see a scenario where everything goes well and this team continues its miraculous run. Again, this requires that everything goes wrong for others as well. It probably won’t be that year for the Pirates again, but at least Pittsburgh baseball fans can actually start to feel some kind of hope again.

The same can be said about the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati Reds are in a better position and cannot be ignored because the ceiling in this division is so low. Much like the Pirates, the Reds have a lot to like here. The dynamic Elie Delacruz alone is reason enough to show up to the ballpark as a fan any time, and Matt McClain took a big break in his rookie season and seems poised to stick around with Delacruz in the near future. They become a dynamic keystone duo. Last season, they won 12 straight games at one point, electrifying the baseball world a little bit, and coming very close to a wild card spot.

They also have a deep midfield, adding to their depth with the addition of Jaymar Candelario in free agency. However, Noelvi Marte tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and was suspended for 80 games (including all postseason games), so he will be tested for the first half of the season. This is a pretty big blow since Marte has been used at third base in most of his starts for the Reds, and it will give the rest of the infield an opportunity to shoulder the load in Marte’s absence.

There’s a lot to like about Cincinnati, but there are still concerns. Expect a similar leap forward for the rest of the pitching rotation, as Hunter Green has yet to become the legitimate ace Cincinnati needs. Cincinnati definitely has young talent, but if the Reds are serious about this season, that talent needs to make a splash here and now. If that happens, this team could definitely be in the conversation to win the division and should still be a wild card contender as long as they avoid a complete disaster. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Reds still aren’t able to tap into their full potential and end up spending another year on the sidelines as far as the postseason goes.

One team that hasn’t gotten used to missing October in recent seasons is the Milwaukee Brewers. They have reached the postseason in five of the past six seasons and won three district titles during that time. If they’re going to do it again in 2024, it’ll be a bit of an upset, since they seem to have gotten right back into the fold after the offseason. Corbin Burnes is currently in Baltimore, and Brandon Woodruff will likely miss the entire season as he recovers from shoulder surgery. The Cubs also lost a manager to a rival on Chicago’s North Side, as they poached Craig Counsell right after his contract with the Brewers expired. There is a lot to lose in a wide division like the National League Central Division.

Still, the Brewers aren’t going to lose their top spot in the National League Central Division without a fight. They signed Reece Hoskins in free agency, which should help strengthen an offense that wasn’t very threatening last season. Jackson Cholio is a very exciting player, and if he breaks out this season, it will add energy to Milwaukee’s lineup. Willie Adames is likely still the star of the show around here, and he should get plenty of help from William Contreras and Sal Frelich as well. Milwaukee’s bullpen should be as reliable as ever, especially thanks to Devin Williams and his “Airbender” changeup, which lives in baseball’s hitters’ nightmares.

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The Brewers probably won’t be as good as they have been the past few seasons, but if they can somehow mitigate the losses they suffered during the offseason, they’ll be in the conversation in the NL Central division. Everyone in this division has flaws — and that includes the Brewers — but that also means they have enough hope to remain at the top of the division, and if they don’t, there’s no doubt They could sneak in as a wild card team. Milwaukee’s road to the postseason will be tough, but it’s still surmountable for the Brew Crew.

The most interesting team in this division is the St. Louis Cardinals. If the Brewers aren’t used to being the underdog in this division, it would be completely foreign to be in the position the Cardinals are in right now. St. Louis is coming off its first losing season since 2007, but they weren’t. They took it halfway, as they finished tied for the second-worst record in the National League. This was a real shocker for a team that featured two of the three 2022 MVP finalists.

It would be great to see both 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado get back into shape, as both are still having relatively solid seasons considering their age. , it’s very hard to find fault with 2023’s performance. If both teams can bounce back and reach the halfway point between a solid 2023 and an otherworldly 2024, that alone should give the Cardinals a boost.

Still, St. Louis’ lineup was decent enough last season, so it should be okay again. Jordan Walker should blossom into a full season as the team’s brightest young star, and Tommy Edman should be solid again. Willson Contreras is still considered one of the better hitting catchers in all of baseball, along with players like Machine Wynn and Lars Nootvaal. and Nolan Gorman are perfect players to round out the lineup.

The big problem for the Cardinals last season was their pitching staff.They had the lowest pitching staff, according to FIP- And last season, he finished second-to-last in the National League in earned run average. With Sonny Gray on a multi-year deal and Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn on single-year deals, it was clear they knew this was their undoing in 2023.

With these additions, it’s hard to imagine St. Louis’ pitching staff suffering the baseball humiliation it experienced last year. If all goes according to plan, the Cardinals should be back in the postseason conversation where they will be used soon. To being. But they’re already set to start the season without Gray due to injury, which already throws a wrench into their plans pretty early on.

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No one knows if the Cardinals’ offseason additions will be enough to return to the top of the division. Perhaps one of the teams with the best chance of stopping St. Louis from making a comeback is the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs were able to successfully sign the aforementioned Craig Counsell, retained the services of Cody Bellinger in free agency, and made a fairly large contract by bringing in Shota Imanaga from Japan. spent the season. Signed Hector Neris.

The Cubs enter this season with unfinished business in mind after an incredibly disastrous end to the season and missing out on a 92.4 percent chance of making the postseason on September 5th. Very likely. The Cubs ended up falling one game short of clinching a postseason berth, likely kicking themselves as they watched the Arizona Diamondbacks finish one game ahead of them while ultimately winning the 2023 National League pennant. I would have been driven.

This isn’t to say that the motivation gained from the 2023 failure alone will be enough to push the Cubs into the 2024 postseason, but Chicago is at least ready to try one more time this season. The formidable keystone partnership of Dansby Swanson and Nico Horner is back, and the outfield duo of Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki should be fun to watch. Shota Imanaga is considered a great fit with Justin Steele at the top of Chicago’s rotation, but the rest of the starting pitchers and bullpen are reliable enough to protect the Cubs in most games. All said and done, it should definitely add to the conversation after the district championship.